With anxieties high over a potential economic recession on the horizon and the recent turmoil over Silicon Valley Bank, budget cuts are sure to follow as businesses prepare for the turbulent market ahead. However, while many programs are poised to take a hit, spending on IT is one of the few sectors expected to increase as businesses invest in the resources they rely on to keep operations seamless, client relationships strong, and employees happy and engaged.
These tools play an essential role in determining an organization’s success through uncertain times. It’s a pattern seen across businesses, including GoTo customer EMA Consulting, which touts the success of their work-from-home experience in the early days of COVID-19 thanks to their ability to seamlessly support employee operations and customer interactions despite the disruption to their in-office systems. Businesses such as EMA Consulting are taking a critical eye when evaluating the programs and technologies they have in place, ensuring their teams have the support they need. So what do those tools look like in practice?
Support Employees from Anywhere
Whether at home or in the office, employees need to know they are supported. However, the challenge of providing remote IT support has increased significantly in recent years, with 43% of IT professionals saying their jobs have become more difficult. With many businesses still lacking reliable IT service management tools, remote workers can face long wait times and disruptions to their work that not only impact the company’s productivity, but can also have real consequences for employee morale. In fact, GoTo’s “State of Worklife” report revealed that nearly half of US-based knowledge workers say they would quit their job over issues with frustrating or inadequate technology.
Investing in the right tools and strong tech stacks are vital for providing employees with the support they need. From onboarding new team members to troubleshooting network slowdowns, the right IT management and support solutions can significantly streamline operations, minimize downtime, and sustain strong teams to help them succeed.
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Make Communication Seamless
Effective communication is key to instilling confidence with employees during times of upheaval. Every member of the company should feel connected to their teams and supported by management, regardless of their location. Unfortunately, many employees still say they are not satisfied with how their company and leadership teams communicate with them, but that can be solved with the right tools and practices in place.
The rise of remote work was accompanied by the widespread adoption of virtual meeting and collaboration solutions, and they continue to play an important role in maintaining effective communication. Simply providing access to these tools, however, is not enough. Business leaders also need to ensure that they are being utilized outside of day-to-day work to foster open communication and relationship-building across the organization. These tools should provide high-definition visual and audio capabilities, simple interface to reduce messaging fatigue, and allow for seamless collaboration to reduce digital clutter. Moreover, by enabling employees to work asynchronously and collaborate across geographies, these tools not only help them stay connected, but also boost morale and company culture.
Customer Engagement is Key
Just as leaders need to prioritize communications with employees, they also need to ensure that they are helping those employees create transparent and honest communications with customers. At a time of uncertainty, businesses need to provide reassurance and show they are willing to go the extra mile to connect with customers wherever they are – whether that’s on the phone, web, or mobile experience.
Customer service will be the make-or-break factor that preserves relationships and loyalty, and it needs to be simple, pleasant, and accessible from anywhere. For companies relying on outdated contact center or customer communications tools, however, that can put real strain on the employees tasked with maintaining those customer relationships. That means businesses need to invest in tools like unified customer engagement solutions to manage interactions, analyze feedback, and ensure they are meeting the demands of current customers, and are well-equipped to build strong relationships with new ones. Moreover, some of these tools are now incorporating AI and machine learning applications to simplify customer interactions and reduce workloads on support teams.
The year ahead may be unpredictable, but businesses can prepare for any challenges they may face by investing in the tools and technologies to support their employees both with internal IT challenges and external customer demands. Taking proactive steps now will determine who wins in a turbulent economy, and who gets left behind.
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